Kenya Alumni Chapter Virtual Meeting

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On April 24, 2024, the Africa Center Community, Alumni, Partnerships & Engagement team met virtually to discuss opportunities for partnership and collaboration. The Chairman of the Kenya Alumni Chapter, Brigadier General (Rtd) Joseph B.M. Mweu, and the Secretary General of the chapter, Ms. Wambui Namu, both attended. Other prominent alumni of the Africa Center were also in the meeting: Brigadier General (Rtd) Wilson AC Boinett, Brigadier General (Rtd) John Waweru, Dr. Anita Kiamba, and Ambassador Muthoni Gichohi.

The meeting began with a moment of silence to observe the recent passing of Africa Center alumnus General Francis Omondi Ogolla as well as that of additional officers accompanying him on the helicopter that tragically crashed on April 18^th of 2024. The highest-ranking Africa Center alumnus from Kenya, General Ogolla attended two programs earlier in his career: the 2009 Next Generation of African Military Leaders Course and the 2015 CJTF-HOA Senior Leaders Summit.

Scheduled as part of the Africa Center’s 25^th anniversary year outreach, the meeting’s aim was to enhance Africa Center understanding of the chapter’s goals and priorities and discuss possible avenues for collaboration between the Africa Center and the Chapter. Africa Center alumni chapters are independent, apolitical organizations whose members have deep security sector expertise and a commitment to continuing a dialogue on security issues with peers in their countries and across the region and continent.

General Mweu kicked off the discussion by sharing the three main areas of concern for the Chapter: climate change, international terrorism, and population growth. The Chapter proposed an innovative idea: the possibility of establishing a regional chapter for Eastern Africa. The Africa Center team is looking forward to visiting Kenya and holding an alumni event later this year and to conducting similar conversations with other Africa Center alumni chapters.